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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 2613932" data-attributes="member: 2012">Report: Boynton rejects Bruins offerCanadian Press9/28/2005 9:31:28 AMAll-star defenceman Nick Boynton remains unsigned as the regular season approaches.Boston Bruins GM Mike O'Connell offered Boynton a one-year deal worth $1.75 million US a few weeks ago and it was rejected. Boynton wants closer to $2 million. The two sides haven't spoken since.''It's disappointing,'' O'Connell said Wednesday from Moncton, N.B., where the Bruins were to face the Montreal Canadiens later that night. ''I really wish we could get him in here. I know he really likes the city of Boston and just hope he'll play with us."The money is fair, it's in line with what we've done with our players in the past.''Boynton's qualifying offer was $1.33 million, which Boynton rejected. The Bruins' next offer was $1.6 million, again rejected, and then it was moved up to $1.75 million earlier this month, the same week goalie Andrew Raycroft accepted a $1.3-million, one-year deal.Boynton, a restricted free agent, doesn't have many options other than to sit at home in Nobleton, Ont., and wait. His best hope is that another team will make him an offer sheet, something that hasn't happened since Carolina made one to Sergei Fedorov in February 1998 (which Detroit matched). Another hope would be a trade.It's believed Anton Thun, Boynton's agent, has had talks with other GMs but no offer is on the table at this point.''I really can't comment right now,'' Thun said Wednesday from his Toronto office. ''I'm going to be discussing things with Nick in the next couple of days and we'll see where it goes. I haven't spoken with Mike in a couple of weeks.''Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the offer sheet compensation for a $2-million contract would be a first- and a third-round draft pick, but that drops to a second-round pick if the offer sheet is $1.99 million instead.Either way, O'Connell is ready for it.''We'll match unless it's a ridiculous number,'' he said. `We would match and protect ourselves and hopefully have Nick on our team.''A frustrated O'Connell hopes Boynton will end up accepting the $1.75-million offer.''He has to make a decision whether he wants to play this year,'' said O'Connell. ''I know he wants to play for Boston, he's told me that, he likes it here. And we want him on our team. I don't want this to become personal, sometimes these things get out of hand.''We drafted Nick, we developed him, he has diabetes and we helped him with that,'' continued O'Connell. ''We like him, we like what he brings to our team. We're treating him with respect and I hope he comes back to play for us.''The 26-year-old Boynton would be the second-highest paid blue-liner in Boston at $1.75 million behind Brian Leetch at $4 million.Boynton played in his first NHL all-star game in 2003-04 when he had career highs of 30 points and 24 assists. He has 72 career points (17-55) in 245 career games.</blockquote>

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